FINISHING TOUCHES

We’ve just finished up the finishing touches of our costume. We’ve finished all the gold leafing as well any hand sewing of poppers etc. I’ve also been working on the rest of the ballet in the evenings and have been developing ideas for the rest of the cast. I’ve initially found it difficult to design for the Prince but after discussing with the group we thought about taking elements of a falcon for his costume and cage elements to show how he is trapped and being told he must find a bride. 

DETAILS

I’ve been working on a back piece for the costume. We wanted a spinal piece that goes down the back of the bodice and the tutu. I’ve used leather to weave thinner pieces of leather through. I’m happy with the results so far but just need to work our how to attach it to the costume. 

SPRAY SHED

Our first fitting went well. We have a few adjustments to make, but on the whole it is looking good. 

We have started spraying the tutu, we started off with just black spray then thought we could work with the green and golds to create a serpent look. We’re also thinking of adding some gold leaf to the tutu and bodice to create a more raw look that will also show up well on stage. 

MAKING FOR A BALLET

After each coming up with some samples we’ve got some ideas for our costume and just need to draw up a final design. Im excited for the outcome as the samples we’ve got have come out really well. 

During the making process I’ve been in uni a lot helping Caitlin with the making side of the costume. I’ve not done as much as I’d have liked of the designing for the rest of the ballet so I need to take some time out after the costume is complete to focus on all the other characters of the ballet and get some design development done for them.  

GROUP WORK

We’ve now been split into groups for our dance collaboration! I’m in a group of three with two design and one interp. It seems like we need to work quickly to get designs done and start making for the ballet. We’ve been talking and we’re all keen to do the character Odile as she is a dark character that we can work with. 

After some discussion and research we came across some info suggesting that Odile used to be portrayed as a snake character so we’ve got some initial design ideas with a snakey aspect. After talking with Kevin we have decided that perhaps our initial ideas are slightly too literal. So I’m going to work on some new designs that are less literal and some samples that work well with our concept. 

EASTER

Over Easter I’m  going to work on finishing off the opera project and starting my final designs for the project.  I’ve been using a drawing pad for the laptop to draw up designs. At the moment I’m finding it hard to get used to. And I’m also fairly new to photoshop so I need to keep using it to gain some experience. I’m trying to keep looking into different techniques and elaborating on our design lab sessions. 

DESIGN

After speaking with Kevin and showing initial ideas he suggested I look directly at historical sources rather than looking into realised adaptations of historical garments. This has helped a lot and allowed me to come up with fresher ideas. 

I’ve been trying to work on moving elements of costume to use them for a different purpose. E.g. taking a 16th century ruff and using that to create a skirt of sleeve etc. I’m trying to work on designing less basic shapes and adding more “over the top” elements where possible. 

I’ve been using a book called “fashion. The ultimate history of costume” this has been a book that I’ve been using to use historical garments as inspiration.

OPERA

During the start of the opera project I’ve been struggling to come up with ideas for a concept. My concept for blithe spirit was so strong I think I’m missing the strong sense of storyline. 

I’ve been exploring fantasy based films and I think this is a good genre for rakes progress. 

Final designs

I have been fishing up my final designs for the costume in motion project. I realised that a lot of the fabric samples I had gathered earlier in the project are now not quite right for my designs. I'll use was I have but if I get time I may gather some more samples.

In the next project I am going to make sure that I collect samples at a later date when I have more design development.

Zips

I decided to put a zip into the back of my dress just for ease for my model to get in and out of it. I managed to massively mess this up. Somehow I managed to make the seams completely uneven, so I unpicked and re sewed it in. I then had failed to sew over the top of the zip so that when I zipped the dress up on my mannequin, the zipper came straight off the end!

This is a mistake I'm sure I'll never make again (hopefully).

Shoot

As the deadline is getting very close, I booked the green room and some camera equipment for the my jacket shoot. Ellie was my model, and she was amazing. I'm going to edit in the background of the shoot, therefore the green room studio was perfect.

Whilst editing, I realised my vision may be harder than I thought to produce, but I percevered and with a lot of help from youtube I managed to get the kind of editorial I was after.

Patterns

I've been working on my dress for the final costume. I realised that that fabric I wanted to use, I didn't order enough of. Therefore I have ended up using a white lace instead. I have used the winifred Aldridge book to create a bespoke jersey block for my model. This book has won me over just from this first time using it. The toile was so precise which was great.

I am starting to really enjoy pattern making. The idea of it used to terrify me but I am finding it more enjoyable with each project we do. 

Wires

I've been attempting to thread wires through the corset. At first I thought it was working well, then I took the corset home to work on this weekend and I have found it so so hard to sew on my machine. I've been using a non stick foot at uni and it has helped amazingly, whereas from home I have a normal foot and it causes the fabric to slip when I am sewing on it.

The other issue im having with the pvc is the fact that you can't unpick. I'm sure for many this would not be a problem, however, I tend to unpick everything a lot as I am still very much learning.

Lights

I visited the Canary Wharf winter lights installation tonight. It was beautiful to see. The entire installation made me want to create costumes with lights within them - an idea that could be used for further projects)

Samples

I spoke to Caroline about which boning would be best for my corset, she suggested creating some samples to see which I preferred the look of, as the corset is made from a clear pvc it is more of a design choice than anything else.
After working on some samples I found that I preferred the clear plastic boning. Prior to the samples I was sure that I wanted metal boning, so it just shows how important it is to create samples for even the smallest of details.

corset Toile

I drew up a bespoke block for my model Kaiyu and then adapted it to create a corset. I got to work sewing the pieces together and adding in cups etc. When I had my first fitting with Kaiyu I found that the corset sat very big on my model. This meant that there were a lot of adjustments. I made the changes and then edited the pattern pieces. Whilst doing another fitting with Kaiyu, and taking pictures to check the fit, I noticed that the under-cups line did not sit in the right place (once I looked back on photos) therefore I would have to check the adjustments again. This stressed the importance of fittings and to make sure that the garment is sitting exactly in the right place before any adjustments are made.

corset drafting

After designing in our last term as well as over Christmas, I decided I wanted to make a corset and dress. Kevin was doing a corset drafting workshop, so I went to that today. I am starting to enjoy working with flat patterns. There are elements I still like to work on the stand with, but when it comes to corsets I like the way you can draw out your shaping on the flat to create something SO shapely. Im thinking of making my dress from some sort of sheer or lace and then creating a corset to sit on top of the dress in a sheer material showing the boning etc.

jacket no.2

While making the jacket the first time around, Kevin showed me how to manipulate the pattern so that the collar sat nicely. By cutting into the collar of the toile and then adding the slash to the pattern it enabled the jacket to sit better around the neckline, an made it much easier to sew. However while sewing the jacket the second time around I have realised I hadn't changed the markings on the original pattern. Therefore I have made the jacket up without this edit. It means that the jacket doesn't;t white sit how I had hoped. This has taught me the importance of changing everything on the pattern as well as on the garment itself, no matter how small the change may be.

42nd street

I went to see 42nd street today, it was the closing show. I hadn't seen this show before so it was very exciting. I was in love with the show from start to finish. I could not believe how many costume changes there were throughout the show as-well. The dancers would be gone for minutes and then be back in a whole new costume, was fascinating.

Christmas

Over Christmas I'm going to re make my tailored jacket. I am not quite happy with the one I presented at formative. I also think now I have attempted the jacket once, I will now have a better understanding of how to make it this time around. Ive also gone for a darker fabric as the idea of the white seemed like a good idea but it didn't quite look as good as I had hoped.

This time I am going to work on pressing the jacket as this was one of the main comments in my formative.

digital

For my tailored jacket shoot I’d like to have a strong photoshop element therefore, I’ve been trying to work on my photoshop skills etc. I’d like to start adding some digital elements to my portfolio, especially my mood-boards. 

Today I started my first initial concept board which consisted of working on “photoshop” and “indesign” which I haven’t used much of in the past. I did struggle at first to get the hang of the software but after watching 500,000 youtube videos and having a good play around I feel as though I am getting the hang of it and now able to do basic editing. It’s important to me to work on my digital editing ability so I’m aiming to make a conscious effort to put some work into it in my spare time. 

Genre

This weekend I’ve been working on an era and style for my Classic text project. I came across a photographer who uses Xray in all his photographs. I came across some of his work which was of an old 40’s car in X-ray and was immediately inspired! The car, although being old, had a futuristic look to it. I then looked into more of his work and he photographs clothing in the same way! They say fashion trends come around every 50 years, so I was thinking of setting blithe spirit 100 years in the future - 2040. The trends of shoulder pads, corsets etc but with an extreme futuristic approach inspired via the X-ray. Futuristic fabrics and styles. Fabrics that most definitely would not have been seen during the 40s, being used to create “2040” fashion. 

Blithe Spirit

I have been reading Noel Coward’s Blithe spirit for the next project and I was surprised to find it is based around Folkestone Kent, which is where I live! Folkestone is a “nothing ever happens there” so I was shocked to find out its where the play is based it made me think I should look into the history of folkestone much more as perhaps it hasn’t always been such a dire place 

The play is set in 40’s and although I would like to switch up the era and theme of the play for designing, I also felt I should research the era to give me an idea of Coward’s mindset during these times. I looked into World War 2 and the devastations that were caused. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in particular inspired me to honour these tragedies by adding elements into the characterisation & designing of the costumes.

New project

We are officially onto the next project of the unit and I am eager to get started. After the short time to design for the tailoring project I’m keen to get started on something that gives us more time to research and really submerge myself into. 

In reflection from the formative assessment for tailoring, I think I need to work harder on the making side of the projects. Sewing isn’t my strong point so the earlier I can start the making stage of the project the better. Therefore with this project I’m not going to rush the research at all but I think I’m going to try and create a schedule/my own deadline for when I want to start making by! 

Formative

I had my formative assessment for tailoring today, I felt happy with sketchbook work and research on my subject but I’m beyond disappointed with my jacket so far. I have struggled with tailoring a lot and could have done with more tech skills sessions to explain how to do lining for the full jacket etc. In my formative it was suggested that I start the making process earlier to allow myself more time which I think is definitely something I will work on in future projects. The whole experience of this course so far has been such a learning curve, each and every project I do I learn so much about the design and creative process and how important research is throughout, I’m trying to edit my approach to each project slightly depending on the feedback from the previous project to try and improve. 

Toile

I’ve been working on my toile for the tailoring project recently and from doing this I have realised what a vital part of the design process cutting on the hand is! Its exactly like the “thinking up the perfect outfit to try it on and look like a troll” scenario, but for costume. I think up a design that I am in love with then when I actually start the toile and pin it on the mannequin its just not right, something is off. In the future the mannequin will be being used from day one of designing for me. 

Mcqueen

This weekend I watched McQueen! MY GODDDDD! What an incredible film! I was so interested in the amount of research McQueen would put into his collections, it was inspiring and something that I can sometimes not realise the importance of. I also loved his carelessness when it came to just chopping clothing up to create something completely new. I am renowned for chopping clothing (to my mums horror, “have you just cut that!”, she says) so it was interesting to see how he uses it as a design technique. 

The film also made me think about characterisation and how the model, actor or actress wearing the garment is such an important piece in the puzzle when it comes to how they wear the garment. One outfit on one person can look so different on another. 

Frieze

T

his weekend I had tickets to frieze art fair. I had never been before so was looking forward to it. Throughout the whole fair, it seemed that most people, as well as myself, seemed to be mostly drawn to the reflective light up/ glow in dark pieces exhibited. I felt inspired after the fair and been thinking how i would like to incorporate some sort of light up/ glowing or reflective aspect to my designs.

Back to Uni

Today marks the start of year 2 and unit 7 has officially started. We will be designing and making a jacket for an editorial photoshoot, as well as alter or restyle a found or existing garment to go alongside the jacket for the photoshoot. This is a hell of a lot of work to get done by the 2nd Nov, so I need to make sure I utilise every minute! (hence why I am writing this journal entry on the train home from the briefing instead of the week before hand in!) Making is not my strong point so I need to go above and beyond to get the results I want, I need to use my independent study times as an opportunity to use the work space within college and get keep on top of all my work.

In regards to an editorial photoshoot, I don't have much personal experience in this. From what I understand an editorial shoot is supposed to illustrate a story therefore I need to establish what story I want to tell through this shoot. I have an immediate image in my mind for this project, but I need to work on it and give it some background.

Waistcoat

I was keen to start making again! I knew waistcoat would be a difficult garment to produce so I was eager to get started as soon as possible. Creating the welt pocket was very challenging, but thanks to Hester she made it a lot simpler. I went home afterwards and re did two more samples in order to get the process clearer in my head. Thinking about it, this is something I should do more often when it comes to tech skills. I can be a slow learner,
but when it's clear in my mind I am able to get the samples done, which then helps to do it again when needed.

Final fitting

During the final fitting we felt there was something not right with the costume. The cage and the dress looked very separate from one another and it just didn't work very well. After some thought we decided to create some smaller foam pieces that come further down the garment in order to bring the whole piece together. Overall I am happy with the results of the complete costume, there are a few elements that personally I'd like to have tweaked, had there been more time.

Spray Painting

After getting the base of the cage ready yesterday, we needed to start spray painting today. We used black spray paint to cover the whole caging then used a cloth to add on silver paint to create a metal look! We also used googley eyes to create rivets on the foam! We should have created and sprayed a sample for this as we didn't know how the paint would look, however our deadline was tight so we wanted to make the most of our time.

Go Go Go

This may be one of the most hectic deadlines yet. Every day has been another part of the costume to tackle. By the end of today we wanted the bodice that would be holding up the caging to be finished, as well as a good start on the foam caging. The importance of weekly/daily and even hourly deadlines has become very apparent in this project. I've realised how differently you need to work when working as a team.

Problem solving is something that has been extremely necessary during this project. Many things that we thought would work ended up needing a lot of tweaking etc. The foam for the caging needed to have some wire added to it so that it looked sturdy when on the body. We realised that without wire it moved far too much on the model to give the illusion of metal.

Skirt

As Niamh and Zennor had started on the petticoat. Sophie and I thought it would be best to get started on the skirt seeing as we now had the front panel printed. I started to cut out each pattern piece while Sophie machined it together. The Skirt was simpler than I thought, we slightly adapted the skirt pattern to create a train.

After looking at the skirt we found that it was quite plain. The skirt needs something added to create some volume and shape potentially some ruffles at the back. I am going to work on some samples of ruffles to pin onto the skirt for the next fitting with Nikki.

Caging Sample

After chatting to Nikki and Hester, both suggested that we use Plasterzote foam and then spray it to make it look like a metal. They also both suggested we create a a mock up of the cage to know how much foam to buy.

It became clear while creating a paper sample that we would not need as much as expected which works in our favour as the foam is quite expensive. This made me realise the importance on samples throughout the design and making process.

Drafting Hip Block

Niamh and Zennor had set out to start on the petticoat together. Meanwhile Sophie and I worked on the hip block for bodice. I've found throughout, that I struggle a lot with creating a block. It is something that I am getting better at and wanted to use this opportunity to learn. We made a few mistakes throughout the process but we had Nikki's assistance as well as our instructions from tech skills, which made it a lot easier.

Printing

After deciding on a final design we thought it would be best to get booked into the dye room as soon as possible and get started. Our group consisted of Niamh, Sophie, Zennor and I. Niamh created an image for us to use for the silk screens then the next day Sophie and I had booked in with Jess to use the dye room. Honestly, i'd always been worried about the first time I would use the dye room properly as I found jess quite scary! But actually after her showing us how to use everything and teaching us how to create the silk screens, I found that she's actually lovely!! The process of making a silk screen and printing was something I had never done before but so glad I learnt. It taught me that I need to be much more confident with using the different facilities around the uni whilst I'm here and to not be scared!

Printing onto the fabric was very daunting as we were printing black puff binder onto white fabric, which, of course, can easily go wrong. However we got into the swing of things pretty quickly and had a finished printed fabric for the front panel of the skirt by the end.

Sketchbook

I have been working hard on my sketchbook for night circus to try and help the group come to a final design. We are all tackling some research in our own way then going to agree on a final design for the costume. We have decided to do Celia as our character and have all thought that it may be nice to have some sort of boning/caging structure to our design with a historical dress with contemporary aspects.
I'd like to work a on the contemporary side, as I find that is what I am most interested in, but of course happy to work on historical elements where needed. As a group we seem to all be on the same page so far, which is good. This week we'll be presenting our sketchbooks and initial designs and ideas so I'm working hard on them to get them finished.
I've noticed with my sketchbook that I need to note down where I get my images and research from straight away. I collect the research then always struggle in the last minute to find out where the evidence is from and the source. I've been trying to keep track of where I find my evidence as I go to try and avoid the struggle at the end of the project.

V&A

We were advised to visit the V&A and look at the theatre section for contextual studies this term. The costumes were incredible!

We checked out the historical fashion before leaving also, as we thought this could be beneficial to our night circus project and for researching the different costume throughout the eras. I collected some images and details to use within the night circus project for the 1800s. 

On reflection I should have taken more notes in the theatre area to use toward contextual as I took a lot of photos but didn't jot down the references to use for or presentation. 

The Night Circus

We were put into our groups yesterday for The Night Circus project. The groups were supposed to be made up of two designers and two interpreters. There are more designers in total and therefore I have ended up in a group with one and interpreter and the rest of us designers. We each need to take the lead role of research, design, cut or construct. Unfortunately I have ended up being left with cut which is not at all my strong point. I'm going to try and use this opportunity to just learn learn learn. There are sessions to help us with each aspect so I will use those sessions to help me out as much as possible.

I have been using today to work on the break down of the text. We have taken a part each to work on. I made a mistake of not writing enough notes as I went, (probably because I was enjoying the book too much) so now I've had to do a lot of re reading to get the detail I need for the timelines. This is something I need to work on with future assignments, if it comes to reading a script or book again to work from.

Presentation

This morning we presented our shirts and sketchbooks to Glenda. Although mine was unfinished it was nice to see how everyone else is going and how they work out their design process. I found that I haven't adapted the design very much in comparison to others. Some have changed the sleeves and collar etc. If I was to do a similar project in the future I would like to experiment more with adapting a pattern instead of playing it safe. The more comfortable I get with the making process the more I will be keen to changing things and adding things to a pattern.
I also thought that after the presentation we would get some feedback from the tutors on how they think we are getting on and if we need to work on anything in particular but I didn't get any feedback at all.

Samples Samples Samples

I have created some samples for my shirt. The one that I thought was the most affective was the fabric paint used with a handmade template, however the paint did run a little so I will have to look at how to correct this. I will also try it on my bleached fabric as it may seep through due to the fabric being thinner.

Final Designs

Now that my shirt is all put together other than the cuffs and collar. I have drawn up some final designs for my shirt. I want to create some floral patterns just around the neckline, collar and cuffs. I'm not yet sure how to achieve this, I thought about freehand embroidery or painting it with fabric paint. I am going to do some samples and see what works best.

Another day of sewing

I have been going into uni each day to work on my shirt. I have found that I worked better than I do at home. Today I have almost finished the shirt, I just have some hand sewing around the neck and cuffs. I also want to paint my shirt around the neck line. I've also been working out my designs for the shirt and think that I would like to go with a floral pattern. I've noticed that I have been unnecessarily stressing about this unit. I thought we needed a completely finished shirt as well as a finished sketchbook and samples etc by the end of term but it turns out, after speaking with Glenda,  it is a summative assessment where we will be presenting where we are at with our shirts at that point but can still work on them over easter.

Sketchbook

My sketchbook is coming along. I have been looking at Art Nouveau as well as some 17th century embroidery. I would like to create a design around the cuffs an neckline instead of a print that will cover the entire shirt.
I feel that I am finding the sketchbook process much more engaging than the previous project, I think that each unit that we start becomes easier to get going with and I think my current sketchbook is wayyyy better than my first sketchbook for personification.

Shirts and Samples

Yesterday I had worked on some samples for the hobbit shirt, I found the sleeve and flat felding the sleeve quite challenging so I decided to make a few samples so that when it came to making the final shirt it would be easier and hopefully neater.
Today I have started my shirt. I have started with the neck and the sleeves as I had created samples of them previously. I found that my fabric was slightly thinner to work with than the natural calico I had been using for my samples, before it had been bleached. I think in the future if I was to bleach calico I would buy a heavy weight product instead as I know it will thin due to the bleaching process.

Bleaching

For the hobbit shirts that we are making, we were advised that we will be using calico. I wasn't keen on keeping the colour of my calico but also didn't want a overly bright colour as I wanted to create a colourful print. Therefore I decided to bleach my fabric.
I used thin bleach and followed the pack instructions thinking that I could have it washed and ready for the following day to start printing and making. However, the bleach ended up taking almost 20 hours to lighten to a nice white colour. This did set me back slightly as I was hoping to start making the following day but couldn't be helped. I have since spoken to some others and they said they used thick bleach for just 20 mins, so in the future I should do more research on dying and bleaching before I start. Regardless I was happy with the results of the colour!

Adobe Photoshop

I haven't previously used photoshop much in the past so was excited to learn a new skill that I could potentially use while designing. I found the session quite helpful although I feel that I would have liked to learn a little more on how we could use photoshop to benefit our design process. I will do some independent study into photoshop however, and watch some tutorials that will help me with what I want to achieve from it.

Unit Five Brief / Dye Room

After a few days off after the hand in of unit 3 we started the new week with our brief for the next unit. The unit will run alongside unit 4 - contextual studies. It seems like the unit will be very full but a lot to look forward to including making a hobbit shirt and designing for the night circus. I want to aim to stay on top of work this unit as much as possible especially as there is two units running at once. We have our presentation for contextual studies tomorrow so I am prepping for that this evening. 

Our dye room induction was also today and so enjoyable! We printed on fabric using binder which I hadn’t done before as well as breaking down  the fabric which involved using various materials to distress the fabric.  We will be going this for the hobbit shirt so it was a good way to learn some techniques before hand.  Jess suggested we try to make them as accurate as possible so I was going to look into how garments are naturally distressed through time e.g worn knees, elbows etc. 

Final Countdown

It is the final couple of days before hand in and I feel like I am on top of some things and not so much others. I have a lot to add to my sketchbook! I am concerned that I haven't got enough research for the characters, but I have a couple of days so will keep adding over the weekend. My tech skills folder is almost complete as well as my COS folder which is great as this gives me more time to concentrate on my Tickly Tale project. Overall I've found this unit quite challenging but I feel that my improvement in some aspects such as sketchbook are huge. My last unit's sketchbook was lacking life and reference completely, so it has been nice to learn what it is that is wanted from a sketchbook and how we can accomplish that.

Peer Presentation

We presented our work to the second year interpreters today. They were very helpful in telling us what we needed in order to create a design that would then be made accurately by a maker. I was slightly nervous when leaving the talk with them as I felt that I didn't have enough time before hand in to improve and add to all the things that they had suggested. I have worked on it tonight and created a breakdown of the costumes to show how they could be created. I will continue to add to the parts they suggested over the weekend.